ROCKLIN, Calif. - Taking on their third ranked opponent in their last four outings, the men's basketball team welcomed No. 17 in the nation, Hope International to Horton Court Saturday afternoon looking to capture their first conference win. Up again at the half, the Warriors were unable to finish down the stretch suffering a loss to the Royals, 75-66.

"There is a reason they are 18-1 and probably one of the top five teams in the country," head coach Lance Von Vogt said of opponent Hope International. "They have the ability to close games out and play 40 full minutes. We need to grow into that, and we just haven't done that against this caliber of a team yet."  

Pretty evenly matched in the Top-25 matchup, the Warriors and Royals exchanged baskets through the first half with the Warriors holding as much as an 8-point lead on an and-one opportunity from Keith Phillips, but chipped back with a pair of layups and a three-pointer to make it a one-possession ballgame headed into the break, 35-32 Warriors lead.
At the break, the Warriors were led by none other than Phillips who had over half the team's points (20) going 8-9 from the field, 1-1 from the arc and 3-3 from the free-throw line. 

Continuing his dominance, Phillips opened up the second half with his second three-pointer of the game from sophomore point guard Brandon Lindsey extending the lead to six.

Again, proving that the GSAC leaves no time for rest in competition, the Royals took the lead at the 13-minute mark, 47-44. While the Warriors continued to battle behind by as much as 9 with four minutes remaining, Hope continued to have second-chance opportunities as Jessup struggled in the paint rebounding.

"We have to do a better job rebounding the ball. Our initial defense we caused them to miss a lot of shots, but they just kept getting second-chance opportunities," Von Vogt said.
 
Outrebounding the Warriors overall 43-34, and 23-18 in the second half, the Warrior offense couldn't knock down the needed shots to battle down the stretch. 

"We have to make shots, we got a lot of looks that we really like, shots we have made all year," stated Von Vogt, "but right now they are not going down."

Despite the loss, the Warriors were led by Phillips who had a career-high 35 points, tying the program record for most points in a single game, while recording 12 rebounds for his 6th double-double of the season. Joining Phillips in double figures was Lindsey who had 11 points and four assists.

The Warriors will break till next Saturday where they will take on conference competitor and nationally recognized Menlo College at 7:30 pm in Atherton, Calif.

"Every team we play is a nationally ranked team, and they are not going to quit. They are well coached and have great players, and in order for us to win we have to put together a complete game and we haven't done that in the four tries we have had in GSAC play," Von Vogt concluded.  
William Jessup University is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), and the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC). For additional information regarding Jessup Athletics, visit www.jessupathletics.com; visit www.jessup.edu for more information on William Jessup University. Follow Jessup Athletics on social media: William Jessup University Athletics (Facebook) and @JessupAthletics (Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat).